Exclusive Studio Visit with AJ Fosik

Hi-Fructose recently had the opportunity to visit Vol. 18 cover artist AJ Fosik at his studio in Portland, Oregon while he prepared for his upcoming show at Guerrero Gallery in San Francisco. The studio is more wood shop than cozy drawing space, with the prerequisite tools lining the walls while a table, band and jig saws take up the center of the room. As if on guard, an enormous, multi-faced bear towers over anyone that draws near as it stands on its hind legs.

Just adjacent is the paint booth where spray paint is mixed and applied as custom and unique colors. Patterned stencils are stacked nearby, visibly marked after they were put to good use. The finished works ordained benches and equipment alike, and several pieces were hung on various furnishings before their gallery debut. Hours before the new works were to be packed up into a moving van for the drive south, AJ was still putting the finishing touches on a mounted cat head that will surely become a trophy piece for one lucky collector. AJ Fosik’s “Lamplighter to the Promised Land” exhibition opens on Saturday November 10 at the Guerrero Gallery in San Francisco and runs until December 8.